My horoscope says my mind is "muddier" today than it usually is.  If my mind was any muddier than it usually is I wouldn't have any mind at all.

What's in a name.

In the travel biz, this time of year used to be referred to as the "off season" for tropical destinations.  It was the "season" of some great deals.

It's still the season of great deals but it's no longer the "off-season".    "Too negative, say the spin doctors who like to use a silly word or phrase to cover up an unpleasant fact.

In this case, people aren't thinking about the tropics when it's summertime where they are.  So, flights, to those tropical destinations are half empty and the tropical hotels are half empty too.

Why not come up with something a little more positive than "off-season" or "slow-season.  GOT IT!!  From now on, this time of year, the tropics are in their "GREEN SEASON".  And, the green they're looking for is your money.

Lead me to the palm trees!

Logo Design by FlamingText.com   A road crew supervisor hired Ole to assist with painting the yellow line down the middle of the road. He was skeptical about hiring him, but he appeared enthusiastic and told him that he really needed the job. At least his wife Lena told him so.

After the first day, the supervisor was pleased to find that he did an excellent job and was able to paint 4 miles of road in his 8 hour shift. He told him that he did an excellent job and how pleased he was with his progress.

He explained to Ole that his work day would be to complete 2 miles of line on the road, and he was set up with brushes and paint and got him started.

On the second day, Ole completed painting 2 miles of road. His supervisor was surprised that on day one, he had completed twice as much work, but did not say anything, as 2 miles of road was the amount that the job required anyway. He decided to just accept it, and to look forward to the next day when he was sure that he would pick up his speed again.

On day 3, the supervisor was shocked to learn that in his 8 hour shift, Ole only completed painting 1 mile of road. He was called to the supervisor's office and asked what was the problem .. "On your first day, you completed 4 miles of road, on your second day, 2 miles of road, and now on day 3, you were only able to complete 1 mile of road. Can I ask you, what is the problem?"

"Vell," Ole replied, "I’ll tell you vhat, but I tought you vould know. Every day I vas getting farder and farder avay from da paint can.”

Willard's thoughts on weather:

"You're right.  It's not lovely in La Crosse.  It sucks!  Here, it's too warm, windy and humid for me.  That, also, sucks!"

DONNIE'S THOUGHTS ON GRANDAD'S BLUFF:

"I looked at the Grandad Bluff photos:

1. Happy to see a Native American participation.
2. The La Crosse mayor looks about 15 years old
3. For $1.4 million, the place looks, pretty much, like it did before."

(And, my thoughts on Donnie's thoughts:
At my age, nearly everybody looks about 15 years old.)

I love a good old Chinese proverb. I saw this one on TWITTER.

Chinese proverb: Four things come not back: the spoken word, the spent arrow, the past life, and the neglected opportunity. #quote
— Barry Fenner (@BarryFenner) April 28, 2012

Check out this NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC web page.

The worlds greatest magazine has pictures of, what may be, the only all white albino whale in the world.  (CLICK HERE)

WHERE DOES THE TIME GO?

UNCLE CARL DIED 14 YEARS AGO TODAY.

Is there an end in sight??

Logo Design by FlamingText.com If we can hold on, just a few more days, it looks like this cold, windy, winter-like weather may be coming to an end.  The forecast calls for a high of 70 on Tueday and 75 on Wednesday.

In the meantime, this morning, I'm wearing the warm and fuzzy, wintertime, jammies that Donnie and Linda sent to me.

Despite the miserable weather, the new Grandad Bluff viewing area opened on schedule yesterday.

The story, and picture, is in the La Crosse Tribune this morning.  (CLICK HERE) I took one look at the picture and knew that I want to see what they've done, up there, but, come hell or high water, you'll never get me anywhere near that overlook.

To say that I have a fear of heights is an understatement.  Standing up is about as high as I want to get.  The exception (who knows why) is flying.  When I'm locked in that metal tube, zipping along at jet speed, I'm as comfortable as can be.

Go figure!

There are a lot of folks who read this blog who LOVE to go out to eat.

I'm not a fan of "eating out" and, now, I enjoy it even less with the kidney disease.  There are, however, some exceptions and they would be on this web page.  MENTAL FLOSS has a list of 10 of the most unusual restaurants in the world and there are several here that I'd love to dine at.

By the way, Mental Floss is a great website filled with fun stuff.  You might want to save it.

Uncle Bob has company this weekend.

Nick and Jayden (and cast) are visiting.

And, what about this from THE CUPCAKE WEB PAGE.....TACO CUPCAKES! CHECK IT OUT HERE

IT'S NATIONAL PARK WEEK

Don't forget!  It's FREE ENTRANCE to all of the National Parks this weekend to celebrate NATIONAL PARK WEEK.  Get out of the house and "park it".

THEY CAN SLEEP ANYWHERE



It's a bit of a drive but it might be worth it.  The WISCONSIN CHEESEMAKERS ASSOCIATION AND THE FOREIGN TYPE CHEESE MAKERS are sponsoring a cheese tasting event in MONROE, WISCONSIN.  It will be held this evening and $20.00 will get you dinner, beer and a sample of 90 to 100 different cheeses from all over the world.  You won't find a better deal than that this weekend!

CLICK HERE

To see the six most beautiful hotel swimming pools in the world.  The one in CHILE is the one that's next to the property Donnie owns.....which makes me wonder.  Why are they fighting septic tanks in Texas?

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PLANT A TREE!

I had another reader in Korea this morning.  This time in SOUTH KOREA in the city of Anseong.  A nice size city of 149,000 folks who call their town "The City of Masters".  The reason for the name is that they're known for their arts and crafts.  The main crops, grown in the region, are rice, Asian pears and grapes.

That sounds like a place I'd like to visit and I could get there with just four hops but they're LONG hops.  25+ hours in the air would be just too much for an old man like me.

The wind blew so hard, yesterday, I could hardly stand up and it was as cold as a good day in January.  I keep thinking we must be due for a stretch of nice weather soon but what do I know?

One thing I know is that you can scratch the word "soon" out of the previous sentence.  There's a 90% chance for rain and SNOW tonight becoming all rain by 9 A.M.tomorrow.  Tomorrows high will only reach 44.

I was thinking there would be a lot of people on Grandad Bluff, this weekend, to see the new overlook but with weather like this I don't think you'll have to fight the crowds.  The overlook will be there for a long time and I still have hope that, some day, it will start to feel like spring.

Getting there with JUST ONE SUITCASE.

Do you have troubles with PACKING when you're getting ready to TAKE A TRIP?  Click here to get some good ideas on how or what to pack.

GRAND

RE-OPENING OF

GRANDAD BLUFF

5:00 PM

THIS AFTERNOON

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I wonder what Wild Bill and Calamity would think of this.

The cowboys might want to trade their cowboy hats for sombreros on May 5.  That wild city in the Black Hills of South Dakota is fixin' to celebrate CINCO de MAYO! CLICK HERE TO GET ALL THE INFO

That's not the DEADWOOD I remember when I lived there.  Of course, Wild Bill's bones weren't even cold, yet, when I lived there.  Since then the town has gone all fancy on us.  Hell, the stage doesn't even stop there anymore.

An entertainment note from Donnie:

You may recall the 1960-70s TV soap opera Dark Shadows, which made Jonathan Frid something of an icon. And you may have heard that Johnny Depp is now staring in a new film based on that series.

I wondered what happened to Frid, and discovered he died just last week. I hope he saw the film as a tribute to himself, though Depp plays the role totally differently.

Got a note from Duane.

"Our family had a dog named Skippy too.  He had four kids he loved to be with."

This ain't such good news.

It's now official.  According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Wisconsin has lost more jobs than any other state in the union in the past year.

Donnie made this photo and the only reason I'm sharing it is because I think it's such a neat picture.  This was the fog in their back yard.

I have been at the scene of the crimes.

You can't have missed the news about the naughty Secret Service agents in Colombia.  This morning, Donnie reminded me, "You may have seen photos of the Cartagena hotel where the transgressions took place.  It is the same, sprawling, El Caribe that you posed, in front of, in 1976."

That reminds me that I have also enjoyed cocktails at the Watergate Hotel in Washington.  I recall some nasty doings there, too, once upon a time.  I like to go where the action is.

WHAT'S A KID WITHOUT A PET?

I don't know how much Donnie remembers about Skippy but I remember so many good times with her and I think of her quite often.  She was a big part of my childhood and she gave me my first lesson in caring about those who need the most help.

I remember a picture that, sadly, I don't have anymore, of Skippy sitting,in the sun, on Grandma and Grandpa Solberg's front porch.  We only brought her back to Wisconsin once, that I can remember.  She was pretty old, by then, and not in the best of health.  Too needy to leave behind with a "dog sitter" who was, usually, Gladys.

Her death was my first lesson on the impermanence of life.  Remembering that life is far too short to spend, even one moment, on hating.  Kids need to learn that and nations too.

No matter how mighty a nation is, history proves that even the mightiest of nations falls and turns to dust in the history books.  One that really loves one's nation should want that nation to be remembered as a "loving nation" rather than one filled with hate and bigotry and war.

Skippy taught me that too.

I always smile when I remember that Mother was not a great animal lover.  Skippy knew that and she spent her life trying to win Mother's love.  Mother was always the first one she went to.  And, although Mother wasn't about to admit it, she came to care a lot about Skippy and missed her when she was gone.

It was Skippy that taught me more about love and caring than any human or philosophy ever has.  Often times we can teach others more by keeping our mouths shut and, rather than calling each other names, teaching by example.  Jesus spent as much time teaching by example as he did by preaching.

Skippy spent most of her life teaching.  A kid without a pet is a sad thing.

Happy KIDS AND PETS DAY.

Click here to find out more about KIDS AND PETS DAY

It was 77 years ago today, 1935, that a TORNADO took part of the roof off a house on the west end of VIROQUA.  Several buildings on six farms were destroyed as well.  I hate the nasty weather that comes with the change of seasons.

Our Grandma Solberg died on this date in 1973.

39 YEARS AGO TODAY.  If there is anyone in Heaven, SHE'S the one.

Planning a trip to Vegas?

Got some big bucks to throw around? Try the largest of the SKY SUITES at the top of the ARIA HOTEL AND CASINO. It covers a "roomy" 7,000 square feet!

Some people just have nothing better to do than jet around the world spending their money.

FORE!!

My boss phoned me today. He said, "Is everything okay at the office?"

I said, "Yes, it's all under control. It's been a very busy day, I haven't stopped."

"Can you do me a favor?" he asked.

I said, "Of course, what is it?"

Pick up the pace a little. I'm in the foursome behind you."

I guess you could say I hit a milestone today.

I had my first reader in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam this afternoon!

Have you been watching the TV ratings?

If you still watch TV you're, quickly, becoming one of the few.

Wanna know why PBS has so many fund drives nowadays?  Their audience is down 46% in, just the past month, FOX down 16% ABC down 10% CBS down 5%, NBC down 4%.

Most of the reason, of course, is the change in technology but another reason is....how many reality shows can you watch without getting sick?

Those early days of TV were magic.  Why?  All the talent came from Vaudeville and the night club circuits and Broadway.  Night after night, year after year, those performers learned their craft from the ground up.

With rising costs and changing times, the clubs closed and vaudeville died.  There was no place left to learn the trade so we turned to "know it alls" with college degrees who have learned all the tricks of corporate politics but, if you lined them all up in a row you couldn't find one full ounce of entertainment talent among them.

I like this line from author, William Goldman.  "When I was your age, television was called books."

HERE'S ONE TO USE WHEN THERE'S A LULL IN THE CONVERSATION:
The littlest president of all time was JAMES MADISON.  He was 5'4" tall and weighed 100 pounds soaking wet.

Suppose they addressed him as, Mr. Puny President?"

WILLARD CAME ACROSS THIS RECIPE FOR HONEY GLAZED CHICKEN SALAD.  There are a few items, in the recipe, I'm not supposed to have but, just once, I might be tempted to throw caution to the wind.  This looks SO good!

I was just checking the MAYO CLINIC website to see what they had to say about DRY SKIN.  They, basically, said the same thing as my doctor did.

• Avoid very hot water in the shower
• Apply BABY OIL, after you get out of the shower WHILE YOUR SKIN IS STILL MOIST
• Best soap to use would be DOVE
• AVOID DEODORANT

I may smell, a bit, the next time you see me so enjoy my glowing, moist skin from afar.

By the way, you can get special moisturizers, by prescription but they cost around $120.00 each time you re-fill it and, no matter what insurance you have, it won't be covered.  You'll have to pay the full price.

I decided, my skin isn't that dry.

HOW ABOUT "SMART TIRES"?????

A tire that adjusts itself to the weather conditions??  What will they think of next?  READ IT HERE

THIS IS ME ON STEROIDS

PENGUIN DAY should be a day of celebration for DONNIE AND LINDA but they're pretty busy with water problems these days.  Didn't hear anything from Donne yesterday.  Hope he didn't fall in the SEPTIC TANK.

HE'S ALIVE: DONNIE REPORTS
"Today, plumbers install a new water softener system.  I really don't know what they are going to do or when they are going to do it.  All I know is that it costs a lot of money and, given my luck with home maintenance, the whole thing has me preoccupied."

RAINY MORNING IN LA CROSSE. It sure is nice to hear the pitter patter of raindrops on the window and know you don't have to get out in it to go to work. (Isn't it, Rita?)

HERE ARE SOME INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT TORNADO ACTIVITY IN WISCONSIN

• There are, on average, 23 tornadoes every year in Wisconsin
• Last year we had 38
• Our peak tornado season is April to August

NIT WIT OF THE DAY AWARD

IN CASE YOU MISSED THIS GEM...

Wisconsin state senator Glenn Grothman says pay discrimination is a myth made up by those nasty liberal women's groups.  Besides that he says "money is more important for men."

There really should be some kind of sanity test for people who want to run for political office.

WOULD YOU WANT THIS MAN TO DEFEND YOU?

FRIDAY HAS BEEN DECLAIRED GRANDAD BLUFF DAY IN WISCONSIN

The new lookout area on top of Grandad Bluff opens Friday.  CLICK HERE TO READ THE STORY IN THE LA CROSSE TRIBUNE

THEN AND NOW

Yesterday I showed you my "then".  You've seen enough of my "now".

Here is HOWDY DOODY then and now.

So, I'm checking out web sites that might give me tips about DRY SKIN CARE.  The first one I see tells me to soak my face in lukewarm water for 10 minutes.  I'm sure that will moisten the skin but won't that also cause drowning?

DUANE IS GETTING HIS SPRING YARD WORK DONE

"Raked up piles of pine needles in back.  Lots more left to rake".

THIS IS FOR ROGER

THE GOOD GUYS

I complain about poor service, maybe too much, but I like to praise good service when I get it too.  Having spent so many years in the service industry I know how difficult it is to find people who are good and well trained in providing service.  I also am well aware of how expensive, for the company, good customer service is.

That being said, my GOOD SERVICE AWARD OF THE DAY GOES TO WALGREEN'S.

I have been using Walgreen's for my medical prescriptions for years and have always gotten excellent service.  For the first time, however, I had a problem with a prescription today and I absolutely DREADED getting on the phone and being put on hold forever and ever and ever and ever for someone to come back to me (and there are times when they never do!).

Today, I went to their website, which I use frequently, to check the status of my prescriptions, and I noticed that they had an internet "chat room" that you could use to have questions answered concerning my prescriptions.

I decided to try it.  AMAZING.  I began typing in my problem and, almost before I was through, a service rep was on line with me and ready to help. I explained the problem, he checked my records and got right back to me with an answer. The entire exchange was addressed and fixed within two mintues.  Now, THAT'S CUSTOMER SERVICE.

If you ever have a problem, give it a try!  It beats the phone by a mile!

At my age there aren't a lot of moments left and I don't intend to spend any more moments than absolutely necessary hanging on a phone listening to elevator music or worse yet listening to "commercials" about how great their company is while you get more and more steamed by their, obvious, lack of concern for your time.

WHAT DONNIE HASN'T SAVED

RITA HAS

I was living in Sioux Falls when Christmas rolled around in 1976. Amazing how much a body can deteriorate in 36 years.

RITA SAVED THIS ONE



JAYDEN has hit a milestone in her life.  NICK sent a photo of her FIRST BROKEN BONE!

 Lindsay Lohan to play Elizabeth Taylor in a movie for LIFETIME.  THAT'S RIDICULOUS.

DONNIE has been studying the works of HAMLIN GARLAND these days and has some interesting observations.

"After winning the Pulitzer in 1922 for his childhood autobiography, Garland decided he was better at telling his own real story than making up fiction, so he wrote several more volumes of personal reminiscences. I'm reading one from his New York years at the time of WWI.

Garland was pretty good buddies with Teddy Roosevelt, but most of his celebrity contemporaries of those times are now long forgotten. So a lot of the book is tedious tales of dinner parties. It is clear Garland, despite his humble background and his tales set among simple people, became himself quite a snob, and he often talks dismissively of more common folk. But he is occasionally funny.

The motion picture industry was just taking off, and at that time was centered in the East. There was much talk of making Garland's books into films, so he was engaged with producers. But he drew pretty negative conclusions about the whole business, which he could not consider serious art. (Apparently this changed, as he ended up living in Hollywood.)

He also makes a trip to a spa, a rural health clinic, for homeopathic treatment of his arthritis. His description of the place is very good, funny--he scorned it all and soon went home. Perhaps also typical of his Midwest upbringing, he seemed unduly preoccupied with health. The New York years corresponded with his 50s, and he was already lamenting old age and poor health. Yet he would live on to age 80."

Just got home after a really fun day with Rita and Roger.  We shopped until we were ready to drop.  Went to the farm and took care of the birds and then stopped for lunch at the legion in Onalaska.

Seemed like forever since I had seen Rita and Roger and we decided it's because Rita doesn't come into work any more so they don't get to La Crosse as often as they used to.

Got pictures of Roger feeding his birds and the little babies that are just about too cute to be real.

LOOKING WEST OVER LA CROSSE

LOVELY DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD



I LOVE THIS WEB PAGE

CLICK HERE TO READ SCREAM RADIUS-LA CROSSE

On one page you'll find La Crosse info, weather, news, restaurant and hotel reviews and TWEETS from La Crosse (including mine).  It's a quick look at all that's going on in the area.

Have you ever used the "seach this blog" feature in this page?  Type in your name and you'll bring up a "diary" of past days.

For instance, I came upon this "blast from the past".

NOTES FROM DONNIE

at 12/19/2011 07:40:00 AM

"Paul and Dorothy brought lefse, and what a holiday treat! I never liked it sweet, never put sugar on it, always preferred it straight, with butter (and I eat butter almost nowhere else). But this time I spread IKEA Swedish lingonberry jam on the lefse--ambrosia!! (IKEA also sells gooseberry jam, which Jack always joked about.)
After two days of brush hauling and forking and burning, I have a terrible back-ache, and will be on the heating pad for a while."

Logo Design by FlamingText.com That beautiful little girl has been on "The Good Ship Lollipop" for a long time.  She turns 84 today.

This is also the birthday of William Shakespeare  He was born in 1564 and died at, at the age of 54, ON HIS BIRTHDAY!!

Back in the ancient days, when I graduated from high school, they said, "You won't get very far, in life, without a college education.  Times have changed, and not for the better.  An article, in the paper this morning, says ONE OUT OF EVERY TWO COLLEGE GRADUATES IS NOW UNEMPLOYED OR UNDER EMPLOYED.

IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE?

It's DOCTOR DAY AGAIN.  This time we're off to see the dermatologist to see if I can get something to soothe my dry skin.  I've always had dry skin but that malady is, also, a symptom of kidney disease so, now, it's doubly bad.  So, bad that, some days, my hands actually burn.

When the old body starts to go, one thing leads to another and another and another.

After my appointment, RITA AND ROGER and me are going shopping.

CLEAR THE AISLES!

HERE WE COME!

GOTTA LOVE A PUPPY

ATTENTION DOG LOVERS

If you love puppy's (and who doesn't?) CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE PUPPY DAY PAGE.

And, Thunder would like to remind you, if you scroll down to the bottom of the page you'll find a link to CAT DAY too!



WHAT NEXT? BOTOX???

DONNIE DOES THE DOME

I just finished several weeks of forehead treatment with an acid that made my head look like an active lava bed. But after all the painful itching and disgusting flaking, I have a dome so smooth you could land a helicopter on it.  

DOGGIE DOLLARS

WOW!!  Whispering in a dogs ear brings in BIG BUCKS!  Cesar Millan, better known as "The Dog Whisperer", gets a monthly paycheck of $170,000!  He'll have to KEEP working to pay his, now, ex-wife a one time payment of $400,000 plus a monthly payment of $23,000 plus another monthly payment of $10,000 for child support.  Apparently, it costs more than I thought to raise a kid these days.

BIRTHDAY

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Glen Campbell turns 75 today.  He was born in Delight, Arkansas in 1936.  He has a neat web site you can CHECK OUT RIGHT HERE

 

DONNIE COMMENTS

"And, I believe I heard he's suffering from dementia.  I'll bet he can still remember the songs."

A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

FINALLY!  A half-way decent day!  A partly sunny sky and the wind no more than 8 MPH.  Temperatures, in the mid 50's, are a bit cool, for my taste, but we won't have the gale force winds, blowing right off an iceberg, we've had to contend with the past several days.

NEW LOOK

There's a slightly new look to the blog today.  I don't like it but what do I know.  Google has made some changes in the format and, I'm sure we'll all get used to it....eventually.

FROM DONNIE:
Love today's downtown photo.

ON WISCONSIN!

The year is 2016 and the U.S. has just elected the first woman president, who happens to be from Wisconsin.

A few days after the election, the president-elect, whose name is Susan, calls her Father, Ole, and says,'So, Dad, I assume you will be coming to my inauguration?'

'I don't tink so. It's an 18 hour drive.

" 'Don't worry about it Dad, I'll send Air Force One, and a limousine will pick you up at your door.'

'I don't know. Everybody will be so fancy. Vhat would your mother vear?'

Oh Dad ," replies Susan, 'I'll make sure she has a wonderful gown custom-made by the best designer in Washington.'

'Honey,' Ole complains, 'you know I can't eat dose rich foods you eat.' Do day serve tap beer?

The President-to-be responds, 'Don't worry Dad. The entire affair will be handled by the best caterer in Washington; I'll ensure your meals are salt free.

You and mom just have to be there.' So Ole reluctantly agrees and on January 20, 2017, Susan is being sworn in as President of the United States. In the front row sits the new president's Dad and Mom.

Dad noticing the senator sitting next to him leans over and whispers, 'You see dat woman over dare wit her hand on da Bible, becoming President of da United States?'

The Senator whispers back, 'You bet I do.'

' Ole says proudly, "Her brother played football for da Green Bay Packers."